Curvaceous Killer: 1, Monty Cora: 0
by Somebody's Angel and MissBehaving
A/N: Takes place during the end of 'Fuhggedaboudit', Max and Logan are 'together' but still cannot touch. About five weeks have passed since BT.
Huge thanks to BlackRose for the beta!
That night at the fight club, Max approached Mia at the betting window.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick your ass." Max asked.
"Oh, hi." Mia smiled uncertainly, "Hey, there's Logan. Hi, Logan!" She waved to Logan, who looked at her for a moment, then turned towards the bar. "So what are you guys up to?"
"I was about to ask you the same question." Max replied.
Mia sighed exasperatedly, "Here we go again."
Alec side-stepped the wild punch of his opponent and elbowed him roughly in the head, knocking the taller man to the ground with a dull thump. He glanced at the ring girl as she pulled the thin chain three times. She smiled up at him only to find his attention had wandered to Tony and his 'crew' sitting with another shorter man who looked like he'd lost four pounds just sweating.
"…the titan of terror, give it up for Jim the Jackal!" The announcer proclaimed as another contestant moved into the ring.
Normal placed another bet on Alec, dancing to the music of triumph. "Thank you, my man." He said to the bookie. Normal turned back to the ring in time to see Alec block a succession of kicks, then finally sweeping the larger man's legs from underneath him. The crowds cheered loudly as Jim the Jackal was dragged from the ring.
Logan sat at the bar nursing a glass of wine. Max approached him, looking frustrated.
"Can I get a drink?" She asked the bartender. At the sound of her voice Logan turned to look at her.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah. Except…I think Mia put the whammy on me again, because I have no idea what we just talked about." Max shook her head in disbelief.
Logan smiled and removed his earpiece. "I do."
Max moved her hair off her collar and looked at the microphone clipped to her collar. "Oh yeah. Forgot you were listening. Thank god."
"Dougie's worried the boss is gonna find out he talked to Eyes Only. Mia convinced Alec to fight so Dougie could do a solid for the don." Logan explained matter-of-factly.
"So the boss is here?"
"Somewhere. Dressed as a peanut vendor, probably." Logan looked around, as if searching for the boss. "Dougie's about to make him a small fortune, and once he gets back in his good graces, he'll never flip."
Max raised her eyebrows, "Unless Alec goes down and the boss loses all his money on account of Dougie."
"And what are the chances of that happening?"
Max rolled her eyes, "Depends on Alec."
"I'll call Matt Sung." Logan said at the same time as Max.
They looked at each other for a moment, before Max continued, "Tell him to get his men over here." She looked at Logan for a moment more, before walking to the ring to talk to Alec.
Holding a pressure point in his opponent's neck, Alec counted down the seconds until his opponent lost consciousness. "Four, three, two, one." The ring girl smiled at him and waved flirtatiously, so he winked at her.
"Alec!" Max said in a voice barely audible to a non-transgenic.
He walked over to her. "Max, hey. You wanna bet on me?" He motioned with his fists.
"You gotta lose this next fight." She replied quickly.
"What?" Alec couldn't believe his ears.
"Take a dive, hit the mat, lose the fight." She explained impatiently, knowing that there was only so much time before the next competitor entered the ring.
"Yeah, right." A closed expression filtered across his face, then the cocky facade was back. "I'm up like a hundred grand." Alec smiled as he thought of what he could do with all that money.
"You don't get it. Mia played you." Max tried another tactic.
Alec shook his head, "No, no, she spotted me my startup money."
"No, she fixed the fight so a bunch of mobsters could make a killing on you." Max motioned towards the mobsters with her eyes.
Alec looked towards the people she motioned at, then back at Max, "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Logan's been trying to take these guys down for months. If you don't throw the fight, they get off scot-free."
Alec though about the dilemma…for ten seconds, "It's not my problem."
He walked back into the centre of the ring, leaving Max looking after him in amazement.
"…weighing in at 310 pounds, let's hear it for the avatar of agony, Mako!" The announcer broadcasted, then spoke to the contestants, "All right, gentlemen. You know the drill. When I leave the ring, the fight begins. Any questions?" He got no reply, so he left the ring, leaving Alec and Mako trying to stare each other down.
Max walked back over to Logan, "No go, he says it isn't his problem. This is just typical! Why should he care about anybody but himself?" She asked sarcastically.
"What's the problem?" CeCe asked, coming up beside Max. As always, Biggs was not far behind.
"Alec needs to lose the fight. And typical Alec, won't even consider helping someone other than himself." Max replied.
"I'm gonna lay his ass in the dirt." she continued before either X5 could comment.
"Max, are you sure? I mean, he was at Manticore a lot longer than you, who knows what his moves are like?" Logan was concerned, "Plus you've been getting headaches lately, and you're always tired…" He trailed off when he saw Max's look.
"Thanks for the concern Logan, but I've been waiting for a chance to kick Alec's ass for months now. What better place to do it than in front of hundreds of people?" She grinned conspiringly.
Over at the betting window, Normal placed another bet, "Thank you very much." He turned around to watch Alec fight, "Let's go, let's go."
Alec beat Mako with three moves and the crowd went wild. Normal went to the side of the cage to speak to Alec.
"You're up $122,000." Normal and Alec smiled at one another.
"Ladies and gentlemen, undefeated against twelve opponents and still standing after all comers, we have a new champion-" The announcer was cut off by a female voice that was eerily familiar to Alec.
"Not so fast." Max entered the ring, taking off her jacket and belt.
Normal and Alec looked up in surprise, the disbelief showing on their faces. Alec threw a 'what?' look at Max and she glared back at him.
"I'll take him on."
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger…" The announcer walked around the two X5s as they spoke, oblivious to the cheering crowd.
"What the hell are you doing?" Alec asked.
Max slowly took off her bike gloves as she explained, "I told you to take a dive. Now I'm gonna have to beat your ass myself."
"What do you have against me making money?" Alec looked around, unable to comprehend Max's actions.
"So what's your name, cupcake?" The announcer asked Max.
Alec answered for her, "She doesn't have a name. You know what? She's not here. She's not fighting." He looked around for Biggs, who just shrugged and waved when Alec glared at him.
"Oh, yes, I am." Max replied in a no-nonsense tone, handing her gloves to the ring girl.
"Ladies and gentlemen, in this corner, hailing from parts unknown, let's hear it for the Curvaceous Killer!" The announcer publicized, and Alec smirked at Max when he heard the announcer's name for her.
"What do you think?" One of the gangsters asked Tony.
"What do you mean, what do I think? Look at the freakin' odds." Tony replied. They looked at the odds on the board, which were 47-1 in Monty Cora's favour. "Put it all on Dougie's guy for the boss."
"How much?" Another gangster asked as he picked up the betting slips.
"How much? All of it." Tony replied. The gangster left the table, "'How much.'" Tony muttered.
"You are so dead, missy-miss." Normal said to himself gleefully as he placed another bet for Alec.
Mia was waiting in line impatiently at another window. She tapped the shoulder of the guy in front of her, "Excuse me, I'm gonna scootch to the front. Hi, excuse me. Excuse me." She made her way to the front using the 'powers' Manticore had given her.
"Everything on Monty Cora." The gangster said to the bookie at yet another betting window.
The announcer handed his microphone to the ring girl, then turned to Max and Alec, "All right, here are the rules. Well, there ain't no rules. Hitting below the belt's allowed…eye gouging's allowed…"
Alec shook his head ignoring the announcer, "Max, you don't want to fight me."
Max jumped in, "Are you kidding? I've been waiting for this chance for months." She put up her fists in preparation for the fight.
"Yeah, well, see, you're just a girl, and so-"
Alec's words were cut off when Max punched him in the face.
"Hey!" Normal screamed from the side of the ring, "She jumped the bell! What are you doing? She jumped the bell!"
The announcer left the ring as quickly as he could, yelling at the ring girl as he went, "Ring the bell! Will you ring the bell?"
Alec wiped the spit off his lips, "Should've known you'd cheat."
Max kicked Alec in the leg, sending him towards the side of the cage. "That's for the virus."
Alec walked around, holding his leg, "That was not my fault!" He pointed a finger at Max to make his point.
Max ignored him and punched him again, sending him into the side of the cage. "That's for trying to kill Joshua."
Alec used the cage to pull himself back into a standing position as he protested, "I was just trying to protect my own…"
Max punched Alec in the face, then followed it with an upper cut to the stomach, leaving Alec doubled over.
"And that's for getting paint all over my research papers."
Alec squinted at the irate X5 and pointed at her as he walked around the ring, "Okay, yeah, that was my bad."
She punched him in the face again, sending him flying into the other side of the cage. "That's for making Joshua deliver your packages."
"Max, cut it out!" Alec was now getting angry, and pointed a finger at her to warn her as he got to his feet.
Again Max ignored his words, kicking him in the leg, then punching his face again, the force behind the punch pushing him face first into the cage. "That's for losing my baseball."
Alec slowly stood back up and shot a warning look at Max.
"And this…" Using her arms for leverage, Max kicked Alec in the stomach, sending him flying back against the side he had just moved from, "…is for whatever stupid thing you do next." She pushed her hair away from her face as she watched Alec try to get his breath back.
"Kick her ass!" Normal yelled from the side of the ring.
"Okay. That's it." Alec pushed against the cage to lever himself back to his feet.
Max raised her eyebrows and went into a roundhouse kick, but Alec grabbed her leg, stopping her momentum. He punched her in the jaw, then pushed her leg, shoving her unceremoniously to the ground. She did a backward roll to her knees, but before she could get up, Alec kicked her thigh, sending her into the side of the cage. She landed right in front of Normal, and a river of blood flowed from her nose, even though Alec hadn't punched her anywhere near her nose. For a moment Alec looked concerned, but saw Max's murderous look and realised that she would never let him help her.
"Oh, lovely!" Normal yelled to Alec, then grabbed the wire and spoke to Max; "You better be at work tomorrow, there, miss. Huh, pumpkin?" As Max got to her feet and wiped the blood off her face, Normal shouted to Alec, "Kill the messenger!"
Alec grinned at Max, "My turn now, bitch." He flexed his shoulder muscles and got into a fighting stance.
Max tilted her head, "What'd you just call me?"
Alec chuckled, "You heard me. B-I-T-C…" He spelled it with his fingers, but Max cut him off.
"Oh, look at that." She glanced at the side of the ring, "Ring girl just lost her top."
"Yeah." Alec responded in a disbelieving tone. Nevertheless, he had to look, just to make sure. The ring girl smiled back at him, top intact.
Max looked at Alec for a split second, still the same old sleaze, she thought in disgust, before taking advantage of his distractedness to kick him in the groin.
The crowd groaned, then the women began to cheer.
Alec grabbed his groin, wide-eyed with pain. Max pushed his forehead gently, making him fall over.
"Oops. Sorry." Max's blurry form stood over Alec's crumpled one as he struggled to control the pain.
The ring girl rang the bell and the announcer entered the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for out new champion, the Curvaceous Killer!" He grabbed Max's arm and held it above her head. Max tried to look pleased, but failed miserably.
The crowd cheered as Max looked around. She saw Logan, Matt Sung and some other cops heading to Tony's table. They walked past Mia, who started to follow them. Max quickly exited the ring and stepped in front of Mia.
"Hey! If you were thinking of going over there and working your mojo on Dougie, think again."
Mia looked annoyed. Max touched her nose, found that it had stopped bleeding, and wiped the last of the blood off her face. She went to move towards Logan, but almost fell over, dizziness taking over her motor control. Mia smiled sympathetically, making Max suspicious again.
Dougie closed his eyes; not believing that the tip Mia had given him had turned out to be a dud.
Tony looked at him pointedly, "Come on. Let's take a little ride, hmm?"
The gangsters got up, and motioned Dougie to also stand. Logan and the cops approached and Logan pointed to Dougie.
"Douglas Colantonio?" Matt Sung asked, flashing his badge, "Detective Matt Dung, Seattle P.D."
Tony sneered at Matt, "He's got nothing to say to you."
Logan quickly broke in, "You're about to get dead, Dougie. You were on thin ice with the boss already, and that's before you lost him a lot of money. You go with them, you're gonna end your night in cement shoes."
"'Cement shoes'?" A gangster asked, trying to sound nonchalant, "Who talks like that?"
"These clowns don't know what they're talkin' about." Tony broke in, "Come on." They moved to pull Dougie towards the door, but Dougie resisted.
"We're ready to take you into protective custody. Just say the word." Matt tried to reassure Dougie.
"You won't get as good an offer from the boss." Logan warned, "Tell us who he is, you get a fresh start."
"Come on, Books. Let's go. Come on." Tony and the other gangsters pulled at Dougie again, then each whispered into one of his ears, trying to get him to go with them.
"All you have to do is point a finger." Logan added.
Dougie looked back and forth nervously as he tried to make up his mind. Finally he pointed at a woman and yelled, "That's him right there!"
Sparacino, dressed as a woman, got up from the table he had been sitting at, and began running.
Matt followed his movements with his eyes, "Stop her!"
The gangsters tried once more to pull Dougie towards the door, but were grabbed by the cops instead.
"You're dead!" Tony yelled as he was hauled away, "You're dead!"
Sparacino jumped over the railing and stumbled in his long dress, but continued to run around the side of the fighting cage. Mia stopped him with a punch at the corner of the ring.
She turned back to Max, "I never really liked him much anyway."
They both turned to watch as Matt Sung put the handcuffs on Sparacino, "You're under arrest for murder, racketeering, and bookmaking. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Go." The two officers who were holding Sparacino against the cage hauled him to his feet and towards the door.
Later, when the crowd was gone, Logan and Max listened as Mia filled them in on her plan. Dougie sat at a nearby table, asleep.
"Now wait a second. I don't get it." Logan was still getting his head around what Mia had just told him, "You wanted Dougie to flip?"
"I've been trying to get him out of this life since the day we met." Mia offered in explanation, "That's how come I had you do the Eyes Only hack – to push Dougie into doing the right thing."
"So this whole thing was a setup?" Max pushed away from the cage and crossed her arms.
"Uh-huh." Mia replied, sounding very proud of herself. "I knew you guys would show up here once you got onto me. Plus I knew you'd do whatever it took to help keep Dougie from running off."
Logan and Max just looked at her, she had a point.
The announcer walked past Max and handed Mia a bagful of money. "Here you go miss."
"Oh, thank you." Mia replied, as the announcer looked timidly at Max, then walked away.
"What's that?" Max asked suspiciously.
"My winnings."
"You bet on me?" Max asked uncertainly.
"Of course."
"How'd you know I'd win?"
Mia sighed, "'Cause girls kick ass. That's what the T-shirt says, right?"
I think I like this Mia, Max thought, turning towards Logan as he spoke.
"Now wait a second. If you wanted to get Dougie to quit the life, why didn't you just do your little thing to make him do what you wanted?"
"You know, I think that's why I love him so much. He's totally immune to me. I think it's 'cause his brain wiring's a bit screwy on account of his condition." Mia nodded conclusively.
"So you like not having him wrapped around your finger?" Logan asked.
"Yeah. What fun is being in love if everything's easy?"
Max raised her eyebrows and looked at Logan, staring into his eyes for a moment until Normal broke into their chain of thought.
"Look what you did to him." He said to Max, he and Biggs supporting Alec between them, "What the hell are you?"
Max and Logan exchanged a panicked glance. Max looked at Biggs, then at Mia.
"Uh – Normal, honey, you need to forget everything you saw here tonight." Mia broke in.
"I do?"
"Mm-hmm. Just let Biggs take Alec back to his place, you go on home to bed. Maybe you'll have one of those nice gladiator dreams you like so much."
Suddenly Normal felt like that was precisely what he wanted to do, "Yeah. I like that."
"And you – here you go." Mia handed Alec some money, "Thank you so much."
Alec smelled the bills, then smiled at Mia, still out of it.
Normal ruffled Alec's hair, then he and Biggs pulled the dazed X5 towards the door, "Let's go, there, buddy."
As they passed Max, Alec's smile faded and he glared at her, looking uncomfortable. Max grinned, unable to hide her pleasure in beating him.
"All right, Dougie." Mia set the bag of money on Dougie's lap, waking him up."Time to go."
"Where? Where we going?" Dougie asked.
"Maui." She patted him on the shoulder and giggled, "Come on. We've got a plane to catch."
She turned back towards Max and Logan, then walked to Logan and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"You are a beautiful, talented man." Logan looked at Max with raised eyebrows and Mia turned to speak to her, "And you? You couldn't be a more rocking, awesome chick if you tried. You two are going to have the best life together. You're so perfect for each other. I know life stinks a little right now, but it can't always stink, right?" Max looked at Logan, her own eyebrows raised. He returned the look, trying to express all his feelings for her in one moment. "Believe me. If Dougie and I can make it work, so can you. Always remember that, okay?"
"I have the feeling I will." Especially now that you've stopped putting the whammy on me every time we speak.
"All right, Nappy, time to go." Mia threw her feather boa over her shoulder and took Dougie's arm. They walked away, leaving Logan and Max watching after them.
"Can't really be mad at her." Max commented, "I mean, you got your guy." She turned towards him.
Logan watched them walk out the door, "And she got hers." He turned to Max, "Shall we?"
Max smiled, "May as well."
They turned to go, staying as close as they could without touching.
"So I hear you're a rocking, awesome chick." Logan said as he put on his jacket.
"And you're a beautiful, talented man." Max replied, nudging Logan's jacketed abdomen.
"That's right." They walked out to the parking lot, stopping in front of Logan's Aztek. "You wanna come over?"
Max smiled, "I'd like that. I think I'm in the mood to win a few more fights tonight." Her smiled widened into a grin.
"Oh really?" Logan replied, "Don't think you can beat me that easily."
Max laughed, "Logan, out of all the times we've played you've only beaten me twice."
"Third time lucky." He said with confidence.
Striding over to her Ninja, Max straddled the bike and looked back at Logan. "You're on." Putting on her yellow-tinted glasses, she was out of the parking lot before Logan could get his key into the door.
Forty-five minutes later Logan looked with disbelief at the chessboard. Max had beaten him in less than half an hour.
Max looked at the expression on Logan's face and smirked. "Somehow I don't think Lady Luck is with you tonight."
"I think you may be right. I can't believe it only took you twenty-five minutes to checkmate me."
"Well believe it." Taking Logan's stolen pieces from her side of the board, Max began to set up the board for another game.
"No wait." Logan said, making Max pause her movements, "Let's not play any more chess tonight, let's watch a movie instead."
Max was hesitant; if we get too close I may end up touching him again…I can't do that. "I dunno…what about the virus Logan?"
"Don't worry Max. We don't have to cuddle. I can sit at one end of the couch and you can sit at the other." Without waiting for a reply, Logan stood up and went to his bedroom, returning moments later with a thick navy blanket.
He went to his TV cabinet and extracted a DVD. Placing it in the DVD player, he walked to the couch and switched the TV on. Max still sat in the armchair she had been playing chess in. Logan motioned her over and she slowly walked to the couch, sitting as far away from Logan as possible.
She's so scared of infecting me again. Her concern for my life is cute, but annoying at the same time. All I want is to sit close to her, even if I can't touch her, but she's too scared for even that. Logan sighed and pressed 'play'.
"So what are we watching?" Max asked as she pulled her legs up beside her butt. I so wanna move closer to him, but I can't risk touching him…I won't risk it.
"The Mummy." Logan replied, handing Max the case.
She read the blurb and smiled, "Sounds good. For a minute there I thought you were gonna pull out some sappy romantic comedy or something."
Logan smirked at her, "I know you better than that."
That you do Logan, Max thought, you know me better than anyone else I know, except maybe Zack. But Zack doesn't understand human emotions; he could never understand why I love you so much, even if I find it hard to tell you. And of course now Zack doesn't know me at all…he doesn't even know who he is…and it's my fault. But how could I have just let him kill you?
"Max?"
Logan's concerned tone broke Max out of her thoughts. She blinked and looked at Logan, "yeah?"
"Wanna join me on earth?"
"Sure." Turning her attention to Logan's widescreen television, Max settled down to watch the movie.
By the time the movie finished, Max was lying across Logan's lap, on top of the blanket. He rested his hand on her back, and had to force himself to restrain from running his hand through her hair. She's so close, and I'm pretty sure that she'd allow me to…a voice in his head reasoned, but another, more forceful voice spoke up, but Logan remember the virus! He sighed, yeah…almost forgot that even thought Max would probably allow me to stroke her hair, doing so would certainly kill me.
Similar thoughts were running through Max's own mind, I so wish I could touch him right now…it's torture feeling his hand on my back but knowing that we can't get any closer than this…She slowly sat up, leaving Logan plenty of time to move his hand, but he didn't.
"So how did you like the movie?" he asked, his hand still resting on her back.
Max shrugged, trying to ignore the distraction of the heat of Logan's hand through her thin shirt, "It was pretty good, funny in parts, but not lacking in action. Kinda liked the romantic parts too."
"Good all-rounder. The sequel is a little more romantic, but has just as much humour and action."
Max smiled slightly, "We should watch it some time."
Logan smiled back at her, "We should. How abou-" his words were cut off with a huge yawn.
Max chuckled, "Looks like someone's a little bit tired." She checked her watch. "Well no wonder, it's almost midnight."
"Weird, I don't usually get so tired this early…must have been all the excitement of the day."
"Yeah, well I'm not gonna keep you up, go to bed."
"K, goodnight Max." Logan got up and walked to the door, then turned around, "I love you."
Max grinned, but Logan noticed that her facial expression didn't quite match her eyes, "You too. Night."
Chalking up Max's response to nerves at how close they had been just now, Logan chose not to comment, and headed towards his bedroom.
Max threw her head against the couch back. Damn it! Why does he have to look so hot all the time? And I bet he noticed that I didn't say 'I love you'… Shaking her head to get out of the downward spiral she was in, Max stood up to go to the kitchen, but fell immediately back down onto the couch. Whoa, where the hell did that dizziness come from? Must have stood up too fast…but that's never stopped me before…must be coming down with something. Standing up a little slower this time, Max found that her vertigo had passed, so she made her way to the kitchen to get a midnight snack.
There she found the last two chocolate-chip cookies of the batch Logan had made two days prior, washing them down with a glass of milk. Haven't had a seizure since I returned from Manticore, but the dizziness and tiredness are usually symptoms of a seizure, so it can't hurt to take some precautionary measures.
Filling the glass again, Max took her milk to the guestroom, where she drained the glass and set it on the nightstand. She went to the dresser and picked out a tank top and shorts, then shed her clothes and changed into the sleepwear.
Moving into Logan's room, Max found him sacked out on top of the sheets. Wow, he was tired. He only took off the exo…didn't even take off his shirt…damn, coulda done with some pec visuals tonight. She smiled to herself and settled into an armchair that sat near the window of Logan's room. So yet again I'm reduced to watching the man I love sleep the night away…who'da thunk I'd prefer this over riding my baby all night long?
Silhouetted by Seattle's night lights, two figures made their way into an unfinished apartment in sector five.
"Max is gonna kill you when she finds out." Biggs shifted nervously beside Alec as he jimmied the lock and pushed him through the doorway.
Alec's face was still bruised but the swelling had gone down considerably. "Exactly. Max'll be after me. She's not going to touch one perfectly gelled hair on your pretty face." He straightened up and glared at his best friend. "Are you going to be a wimp about this?"
Biggs glared right back. "Now, I know you did not just call me a wimp, pretty boy."
"I did just call you a wimp, butthead."
"I would hit you so hard if you weren't my CO."
Alec smirked. "I know. It's one of the many benefits."
"Does that include being kicked in the balls by Max?"
"At least this time she has a genuine reason."
The next morning Logan awoke to the sun's glaring rays on his face. Looks like it's gonna be a nice day…first sunny day we've had in a month. He pulled himself into a sitting position. Wow I must have been really tired last night; I didn't even change my shirt. Moving to the edge of the bed, Logan positioned his wheelchair, then transferred into it. He moved towards the wardrobe, but a soft noise made him turn around.
Curled up in the armchair near his window was Max, fast asleep. Logan wheeled over to her and gazed at her beautiful face. It was still hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that someone as stunning as Max could fall for him and he wished he could show her how much he appreciated her in his life. But I can't touch her, at least not skin on skin, not unless I want to be dead an hour later.
He knew that Max often spent her nights watching him sleep since they'd confessed their feelings for one another, though today had been the first time she had not left in the early hours of the morning and returned later for breakfast. She must have been really tired to fall asleep and not wake up before me. He wanted to rouse her and tell her how much he loved her, but she probably needed the sleep, so he left her on the chair, careful to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake her. Lately she's always complaining that she's tired…I hope she's not coming down with something.
Once he had finished in the shower, Logan dried himself off and reached for the pile of clothes on the seat of the wheelchair. Shit! He thought upon realizing that he had forgotten to bring a shirt into the bathroom. "And I already put yesterday's shirt in the washing basket…If I go back in there I'm definitely gonna wake up Max…" Logan thought aloud as he pondered his problem, "I guess I'll just have to do without a shirt for now, once Max is up I'll get it." Dilemma sorted, Logan put on his boxers and wheeled into his therapy room to put on the exoskeleton.
An incredible smell drifted through Max's nostrils and woke her. She sat up straight, looking around the room confused, but then realized she was somewhere safe and relaxed back into the chair. Wow, I didn't realize I was so tired; I must have drifted off…that makes what… Max did a quick calculation in her head, twenty hours of sleep this week, and it's only Wednesday! Must be one helluva seizure coming.
Uncurling herself and standing up, Max followed the delicious smell out to the kitchen, where she found Logan cooking breakfast…shirtless. Oh my…she thought, heat rising to her cheeks, …god he looks hot. I just wanna go over there and…stop right there. Max chided herself, pulling her thoughts out of the gutter. And I'm not even in heat…but knowing what's under those jeans…whoa girl, remember the virus. Better than a cool shower, the realization that she could look and not touch was an instant lust-killer. "Hey." She said, cursing the huskiness of her voice. "What's cooking?"
"Pancakes." Logan replied without turning around.
Hopping up on the counter, Max pouted, "Aren't you even going to look at me?"
Logan spun on one foot and smiled at Max, "Better?" He drank in her curves, barely hidden under a skimpy black tank top and short gray drawstring shorts. Does she know how sexy her pajamas are now that I know what's underneath? Logan questioned, then remembered the virus. Looking into Max's eyes, he saw his own desire reflected in her chocolate pools, as well as the sadness of knowing they couldn't do anything to extinguish said desire.
"Much." Max replied, hooking one leg under the other. "So what's with this no-shirt look? Not that I mind…" She grinned saucily, "…but since when do you choose not to wear a shirt?"
"I forgot to take one when I went to take a shower, and I didn't want to wake you by coming back in. I know how tired you've been lately. 'S why I didn't cook bacon and eggs, bacon spits ya know."
Despite being touched by Logan's concern for her health, Max couldn't resist commenting on his last statement, "Yeah, that could have been bad. But at least then both sides of your torso would match; burns on one side, bullet wounds on the other."
Logan's eyes clouded over, and Max wondered if she should have kept that comment to herself – he was still extremely sensitive about the shooting. But his eyes cleared after a moment and he nodded seriously. "Why don't you go take a quick shower while I finish up here, I know you have to be at work soon."
Hopping off the counter, Max went to the guest room where she kept some spare clothes.
Original Cindy awoke to the shrill sound of her alarm going off. She shoved aside the blankets and got out of bed, moving quickly over cold cement to the bathroom for her shower.
As she dressed for work in her room, OC noticed it was oddly quiet in the apartment. She ducked into the second bedroom to check, and sure enough Max's bed was empty and cold. So suga finally spent the night at her boy's. Suddenly, OC realized that Max had never spent the night at Logan's since they had confirmed their relationship, save for the first night when the virus was temporarily out of the way.
I know she can't touch him, but surely she could spend the night in the guest room. She goes over there for breakfast almost every morning anyways. She left the apartment, thoughts on Max and Logan's new relationship, and she wondered how much time Max had spent obsessing over her changing relationship with her hot boy. I definitely know that the two of them have finally admitted their feelings for one another, but now, five weeks later, it seems like they've almost gone back to the 'only friends' dealio. Despite spending more time with one another, it seemed that they never did things that a normal couple did."Then again, they ain't exactly normal." OC reminded herself, "I guess not being able to touch kinda puts a dampener on the whole 'new relationship' dealio."
She skidded around the red brick corner and down the ramp, recalling a discussion with Max and CeCe about Logan. Well, if you can call what we had a discussion. She was looking kinda down, so I asked her about her day and she volunteered the Logan information. I pounced on the opportunity, how could I not? After all, not touching your boyfriend has got to put a strain on even the most genetically enhanced person.
FLASH
"I thought you two were trying to get things back to normal?" CeCe commented.
Max nodded, "So I figured what's more normal than volunteering for his oh-so-urgent, let's-save-the-world-by-Tuesday Eyes Only missions?"
"The man loves his work almost as much as he loves you boo." OC stated.
"That's the true love you read bout in Shakespeare." CeCe put in.
"Yeah, the kind where they die when they profess their love." OC retorted.
"Hey, we can always skip that scene and go straight to the bedroom." CeCe smirked, thinking about her own bedroom antics.
"Only I guess I forgot how focused he can get." Max's blatant ignorance of the little argument wasn't lost on either of her friends. "I mean, he asks for my help, but then it's like nothing I do is good enough. Sometimes I just don't get him."
OC diverted her eyes to the stairs, "Well get this. Here comes your boy, and I bet he's bringing an apology with him."
ENDFLASH
Logan hadn't brought an apology with him that night, as Max had explained the next day. But the lack of apology wasn't what was worrying OC, it was the way Max obviously passed over OC's comment of how much Logan loved her. Aside from that first night, has she ever told him that she loves him? OC wondered, then realized that while she had heard Logan tell Max 'I love you' plenty of times over the past couple of weeks, Max only every replied 'you too' or 'back atcha' or something similar.
Like just after he rescued her from that CDC lockdown…FLASH
OC stepped into the kitchen to give the couple a moment. She leaned against the counter and looking back at them, observed their self-conscious interaction.
"You look like you're in good hands here." Logan shifted awkwardly, "I've got some Eyes Only work… so-"
"Hey." Max interrupted.
"What?" his expression was hopeful, but cautious.
"Thanks. For…" She indicated her strapped ankle, "…you know."
Max smiled, and Logan smiled back, their eyes locking for a moment.
"Yeah." He paused, then continued, "I love you Max."
The smile faded slightly from her friend's face, but it seemed that Logan had missed it.
"Me too."
ENDFLASH
"Hey."
OC blinked and smile, brought out of her silent musing by Max's voice. Her friend looked happy but sad at the same time. Original Cindy is gonna have to have a talk with her boo about reminding Logan what she feels, OC thought, and soon.
That evening after work Max and OC returned to their apartment to get ready for a trip to Crash. After changing her clothes, Max went into the living room to put on her lip gloss, but noticed something was missing…
Wait…OC came back into the room, "Ready to go?"
Max turned around, her face a mixture of shock and anger.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Roll Call:
toxic honey: thanks for your high praise. as you can see, we are writing more to this; we left some unanswered questions in the first part, they we need to answer (eventually).
All Grown Up: it's (obviously) how I (Somebody's Angel) think BT should have gone as well…fcking gossamer!
M/L Only: my thoughts exactly. at least the other nomalies looked somewhat human, that gossamer was something out of Jurassic Park! MissBehaving was a bit iffy about the thoughts – there were too many in her opinion, so I'm glad you liked them, gives me more leverage on putting more thoughts in future chaps!
agmgdafan, forever eyes and abreganza: thanks for the praise, hope you like this part just as much.